Bears Ranked 4th Best Opening

[Nelly]

It’s crazy how many other teams fired their coaches and GMs are a bad season and how long CHI held into theirs bad season after bad season.

Like it or not, Nagy bought himself a lot of good will with a 12-4 season in his first year. That playoff loss was passed off on Parkey, perhaps correctly, because Mitch got them down the field in little time and gave Parkey and easily make-able kick.

After that, you had two .500 years with the team losing some games they probably should have won, so it's not like they were terrible. There were always a couple "if just this worked out then maybe."

If not for the weird covid year, Nagy may have been fired. But knowing the McCaskey's likely not. They pulled the plug on the QB everyone blamed for the offense not being able to function, brought in an average guy who Nagy himself liked, and that was the "ok prove it" year for him. He proved it alright, that he was the problem all along by mishandling Fields in almost the exact same way he did Trubisky.

I agree with @gilder121 that if you're going to commit to a guy, you need to give him enough time to prove it, one way or another, short of disaster type scenarios like Urban Meyer or the coach completely losing the locker room like Trestman did.

 

[Les Grossman]

Like it or not, Nagy bought himself a lot of good will with a 12-4 season in his first year. That playoff loss was passed off on Parkey, perhaps correctly, because Mitch got them down the field in little time and gave Parkey and easily make-able kick.

After that, you had two .500 years with the team losing some games they probably should have won, so it's not like they were terrible. There were always a couple "if just this worked out then maybe."

If not for the weird covid year, Nagy may have been fired. But knowing the McCaskey's likely not. They pulled the plug on the QB everyone blamed for the offense not being able to function, brought in an average guy who Nagy himself liked, and that was the "ok prove it" year for him. He proved it alright, that he was the problem all along by mishandling Fields in almost the exact same way he did Trubisky.

I agree with @gilder121 that if you're going to commit to a guy, you need to give him enough time to prove it, one way or another, short of disaster type scenarios like Urban Meyer or the coach completely losing the locker room like Trestman did.

I agree that continuity is very important, but year after year Nagy’s offense was one of the worst in the league and continued to get worse. The was the one main thing he was hired for. He was LUCKY he had Fangio on his staff ( which wasn’t really his choice) and inherited a great defense.

if I were Nagy’s boss, it’d be hard to give Nagy so much credit for that.

 

[Starion]

Wouldn't having a dumbass like George as the ONLY checks n balances allow you to do whatever the hell you want?
I'd think a GM would want this.

Granted there'd be ZERO knowledgeable support systems and you'd have to build your own everything, but wouldn't that be nice?

 

[Nelly]

I agree that continuity is very important, but year after year Nagy’s offense was one of the worst in the league and continued to get worse. The was the one main thing he was hired for. He was LUCKY he had Fangio on his staff ( which wasn’t really his choice) and inherited a great defense.

if I were Nagy’s boss, it’d be hard to give Nagy so much credit for that.

He did pretty well in year 1, then there were excuses after that (Mitch, O line, Anthony Miller is a head case, etc). I agree with you, I just don't think it was necessarily time to fire him after year 3 when we all, pretty much universally, thought Mitch was a bum which was handicapping the offense. Turns out he should have been fired earlier but I don't think that decision was AS cut and dry as it is now.

Even if you did fire him before last season, it's unlikely Pace would have got fired, making him lame duck with an old roster full of holes. The coach pool likely wouldn't have been good considering that and we might've got stuck with a guy who we'd be firing after this season anyway due to possibly his fault and/or the crappy roster, and then what happens with Pace. As agonizing as last season was at times, I'm content with knowing what we know and leaving really no questions at to whether a slate cleaning was necessary.

 

[Spitta Andretti]

You are a complete and clueless moron.

Here is a hint dufus, it's more than just looking the number up on a chart, you also have to look at the amount of players on the roster that attribute to that cap number.

which makes the turnaround even quicker with even more money freeing up in 2023

 

[Spitta Andretti]

Correct me if I'm wrong but that's before we bring any of our own FAs back?

About the only FA that we're unquestionably not bringing back is Dalton and it's probably safe to assume that Foles will be the #2. That's good as backup QB can cost as much as a solid starting lineman. But there's some other vacancies that are being created here. For one we need to re-sign Montgomery. Hicks and Robinson are a lot of money coming off the cap without anyone waiting to fill their places. Daniels and Nichols would cost a bit to retain (if we do). We're still missing a lot on the defensive back-end with needing at least one more starting caliber CB and safety. Trevathan being cut will save some more money but we need another ILB.

All that cap space could dry up rather quickly just to field some passable starters with all the holes we've got. We're not (and shouldn't be) in the market for more than maybe one major free agent acquisition.

i dont believe paying money into the RB position is what they should do

and alot of the players you named arent really mainstays and must haves to resign

the roster will definitely see alot of turnover but even more money comes off the books the following season. dont see how thats handcuffing anyone who steps in here

 

[vabearsfan15]

If you look beyond the lack of draft capital the main reason the Bears are not considered the top destination is because there is a lack of commitment to winning. If I'm a top GM or HC candidate I feel like most of the other franchises have shown a greater commitment to wanting to win a championship. I think many outsiders view Bears ownership as content with mediocrity.

But what else do you seek out of ownership? They are progressing to build a new stadium. They have a new workout facility. They give the GM the green light to spend all the cap space in free agency. What else do you want?

 

[ZOMBIE@CTESPN]

He did pretty well in year 1, then there were excuses after that (Mitch, O line, Anthony Miller is a head case, etc). I agree with you, I just don't think it was necessarily time to fire him after year 3 when we all, pretty much universally, thought Mitch was a bum which was handicapping the offense. Turns out he should have been fired earlier but I don't think that decision was AS cut and dry as it is now.

Even if you did fire him before last season, it's unlikely Pace would have got fired, making him lame duck with an old roster full of holes. The coach pool likely wouldn't have been good considering that and we might've got stuck with a guy who we'd be firing after this season anyway due to possibly his fault and/or the crappy roster, and then what happens with Pace. As agonizing as last season was at times, I'm content with knowing what we know and leaving really no questions at to whether a slate cleaning was necessary.

Fangio did really well In year one

 

[Anytime23]

I was told if you win here you get life long celebrity status like Ditka.

...that's surely a top priority.

I was beginning to type out how overstated this is by Bears fans and then i realized this is the city that flaunts Zack Miller constantly for his 2 years of service on non-winning football teams, so maybe there's a point here....

But seriously, this is how it is everywhere. Doug Pederson and Nick Foles will drink free in Philly. This is how champions are treated. I dont think anyone is considering the Bears job because they look forward to being forever hounded by idiot fans when they go out in public.

 

[Krogoth]

But what else do you seek out of ownership? They are progressing to build a new stadium. They have a new workout facility. They give the GM the green light to spend all the cap space in free agency. What else do you want?

Accountability to start.
Player wise the bears have hung on to some pretty underwhelming players for far longer than they should have.
That is an issue that spans several gms and coaches.

Yes, the gm can spend what he needs to get new players, but can they make the choice to eat a bad contract and replace someone?

I honestly can't remember the team doing so.

With the bears it has always seemed like a player is set in stone until their contracts become unworkable or expire, regardless of performance.

 

[westcoast bear fanatic]

But what else do you seek out of ownership? They are progressing to build a new stadium. They have a new workout facility. They give the GM the green light to spend all the cap space in free agency. What else do you want?

This franchise has been mired in mediocrity for the last 3+ decades. Will they get things right moving forward, that is a big question mark. But past failures likely weigh on the brightest candidates as they consider indicative futures of this franchise.

If I'm a top GM or HC candidate I would want to go to the team where ownership would give me everything I need, no questions asked, for me to have the best shot of winning a championship. The Chicago Bears are not viewed highly in these regards.

 

[Britbuffguy]

I think it will take a few years to beef up the D again. Seems like they are in the same spot post Mel Tucker, and it only took a few seasons to get the D tops in the league again.

The hope is that Fields gets going and drives the offense by then.

 

[Midwaymonster75]

If the next coach believes in Fields, we are automatically the best location. Broncos don't have that QB, Minny won't be a thing while cousins is still there. Raiders? Don't think the QB is the issue there.
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That guy looks like a raw whole chicken with a wig. One of the strangest looking people ive ever seen.

 

[Nelly]

Fangio did really well In year one

The Bears were 9th in points, 21st in yards, 21st in passing yards, 11th in rushing yards, 21st in yards per play, and I can't find official numbers but were good with time of possession. Fangio's defense was awesome and helped puff up that point-scored stat for sure but the offense took a big step in the right direction from the utter shit we were used to seeing from the Bears. It was reasonable to expect that it could be built upon to continue improving as Nagy got more experience along with the team gelling a bit more. It didn't though, thanks in large part to Nagy not knowing what to do once the league know what to expect from him and we arrive here. But let's not be the guys that don't give credit where credit was due. The Bears offense was pretty good under Trestman/Cutler in year one as well and Trestman certainly deserved to be fired after year 2.